L’Oreal in talks over £880m sale of The Body Shop

Noor Nanji

L’Oreal has entered into “exclusive” talks to sell The Body Shop to Brazilian cosmetics manufacturer Natura Cosmeticos in a deal that could be worth €1 billion (£880 million).

The French cosmetics giant said it had received a “firm” offer from Natura to acquire the business and that the proposed transaction valued the iconic British beauty firm at an enterprise value of €1bn.

Jeremy Schwartz, chairman and chief executive of The Body Shop, added that the ethical values and expertise of Natura made it “the perfect new owner” of the chain, and said he was confident the move would help to rejuvenate the brand and drive future expansion.

Natura fought off a number of other bidders for The Body Group, including private equity group CVC and China’s Fosun.

The sale comes after The Body Shop has suffered sliding sales, with lacklustre performance in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong continuing to dog the firm. Sales at the brand sank 5 per cent to €920.8m in 2016, down from €967.2m in 2015.